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Prologue
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Breach Chapter 1
It started out as one hell of a morning, so of course it had to be a Monday. It didn’t help that I only had three hours of sleep, thanks to work keeping me up at night. My brain was unable to shut down.I needed coffee.Stat.The day had to get better—the new hire was starting. Maybe I wouldn’t be in the office until midnight almost every night. The prospect of having a life again, thanks to the new employee, was wonderful. Not that I had much of one before. I’d been working sixty to seventy hours a week for the last four months since Vivian left us high and dry. I needed a vacation.Hell, I’d settle for leaving before five one evening a week.I pulled into the parking lot, zipping into my usual spot, and looked into the rearview mirror. My usually bright, expressive eyes were dull and bloodshot from lack of sleep, reflecting dark circles underneath and standing out against my pale skin. My hair was not cooperating, dirty blonde strands sticking up in all directions. I bru
Breach Chapter 2
I spent the following weeks trying to work out the enigma that was Nathan Thorne, but to no avail. After his mood-altering comments, he had escaped, returning sometime later as the man I’d known up to that point. With careful glances, I watched the way he interacted with others, but there was no hint of the pain I’d seen in his beautiful features.Whatever plagued him was hidden well under his charismatic personality and good looks. The one glimpse I’d been privy to kept me up at night. What an odd thing for a man like him to say.I should’ve been more concerned with the fact that I was losing sleep over a man I couldn’t get along with—something I couldn’t afford as I already didn’t sleep much—and he’d become the star in all of my fantasies.“Morning,” I said with a yawn as I trudged in on Friday, the end of Nathan’s third week with Holloway and Holloway.Not that I was counting.“Coffee?” he asked, holding a cup toward me.I eyed the cup before glaring at him. “Is it poi
Breach Chapter 3
It was hard to pull myself from the warm comfort of my bed the next morning. I ached, and my mind begged to call in sick. It wasn’t going to happen, though.My hand slammed down on top of my alarm clock, shutting off the offending piece of plastic. I turned on the light and slid out of bed.My feet were dragging as I entered the master bath, rubbing my tired eyes in an attempt to wake up. I stopped in front of the mirror and stared at my reflection, shocked at what I saw. My normal bird’s nest of blonde hair and the dark circles from lack of sleep were present. What wasn’t normal were the black and purple marks that marred my skin. There were handprints on my hips from where he’d grabbed me, imprints of his teeth around my neck and shoulders, and small bruises along my chest.It was cold out, so I could get away with a high-collared shirt. I stared at myself for a moment. Was that really what I should’ve been concerned about? If his teeth marks were visible or not? Shouldn’t
Breach Chapter 4
Sunday fell upon me before I knew it, and I found myself at home, cleaning an already spotless home. I’d lost most of Saturday to a glorious, deep sleep, waking up just after noon.Now, I was dancing around to the radio in my tank top and some lounge pants, my hair up in a messy bun. It was unusual for me to leave the house on Sundays, but when I did, I was often dressed in something similar. After all, I needed to feel comfortable after being in a suit all week.The sun was shining, and I contemplated taking a walk, maybe down to the circle, as it was a warm day. Perhaps I’d stop at the coffee shop or head over to the mall for a movie. Then again, I could always find something on the movie channels, maybe make some popcorn.A loud, incessant fist pounding on my front door startled me, and I ran to answer it. I released the deadbolt and pulled open the door to find Nathan standing in my doorway, his expression wild.“Why didn’t you say anything?” he asked as soon as he saw
Breach Chapter 5
My eyes fluttered open, the familiar sight of my bedroom coming into focus through my disoriented mind. Warm, soft light filtered in through the curtains covering the windows, greeting me from my comfortable bed. It took a moment to recall what I’d been doing before I awoke, confused as to why I was asleep in the middle of the afternoon. A twinge in my abdomen when I tried to sit rectified that.Nathan had been there, inside me. It was better than the last time, the pain and stiffness when I moved a testament to his visit. He was rough and dirty, and I knew my body was ruined for any other man. No other could make my body sing the way he had during our encounters.The last words he said surfaced through my addled mind, playing over and over, looping until it was clear.“You should stay away from me, Lila. I’m no good for you. Run while you can. Run away from me and don’t look back. I’m not worth your life.”All I could think of was: why? Why wasn’t he “worth my life”? If he
Breach Chapter 6
Nathan continued his foul mood the rest of the afternoon, but once in a while I caught him looking at me again. Though I would almost call it a glare at that point. Kelly never made it back to continue her flirting, but she did stop by to tell me when my meeting was scheduled.It was almost six when I finished up the contract I was working on, and it seemed Nathan was almost done as well. It wasn’t worth getting started on another one, so I decided to call it a night, packing up and heading to the elevator. I left him working, without saying goodbye or waiting.It was just my luck, though, that when I was getting out of my car, his own pulled in three spots down from mine. I refused to acknowledge him as we entered the lobby. My eyes avoided Thorne as I greeted Mike, the night guard, and I stayed as far away as possible as I pushed the button to call for the elevator. The air around us was charged as we waited, making me anxious. The ping alerted us to the arriving elevator a
Breach Chapter 7
By Friday morning, I was still walking a little on the funny side, my muscles recuperating. With a coffee cup in hand, I headed to the break room, only to find Caroline filling up her own.“So, how’s it going today?” she asked, pouring the creamer into her cup and stirring.I rinsed my own cup out in the sink, then poured myself some. “He’s such a pain in my ass!” I tried to keep my lips from quirking up into a smile and present a pissed off demeanor. Inside I was laughing, knowing that one day he’d make it true in a literal sense.I couldn’t tell Caroline about that though. Not yet. I still didn’t know what we were anyway. She laughed before going over the evening plans. I was supposed to be out of the building by five to eat dinner before meeting her and some of our coworkers at eight.I headed home at the promised time and ate while I scoured my closet for something to wear. It’d been so long since I’d gone out for “fun” that it took me some time to dig out any going-out
Breach Chapter 8
We pulled up to our building, and I stumbled out of the car. My body lit up at his closeness, then I felt his hands on me, hoisting me up in the air and over his shoulder.“Nathan, put me down, damn it. I can walk,” I whined as he moved us into the building.I pounded on his back with my fists as he greeted the night guard, but my attention was diverted by the fine ass in front of me. I could not—and did not—want to contain the urge to grab it, so I did. He yelped in surprise as he stepped onto the elevator. I smacked it, and his grip on me tightened.I could feel the growl in his chest, there was no doubt about it. Wetness began to pool from the sound and the anticipation of what he might do to me this time.We arrived at the fourteenth floor, and he stepped out, walking a few steps—the keys rattled as he unlocked the door. As soon as we entered his condo, Nathan dropped me down onto my feet and had me pinned against the wall with his body, his lips hard on mine. It was a
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